Department for Work and Pensions

Universal Credit

lord hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that Universal Credit payments begin within a week of a person registering for that benefit.

baroness stedman-scott: Universal Credit payments are available on the first day of a claim in the form of an advance payment of benefit. Advances of up to 100 per cent of a claimant’s expected Universal Credit award are available from day one of their claim, if required. Advances are paid back over a maximum of 12 months and in the Autumn Budget 2018, we announced that from October 2021, the payback period for these advances will be extended further, to 16 months. This is just one of a number of measures the Department has put in place to support claimants during their first assessment period, such as removing waiting days and paying those claimants moving from Housing Benefit onto Universal Credit a two week ‘transitional housing payment’. We are also introducing a two-week run on for eligible claimants of Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance from July 2020.

Universal Credit: Pilot Schemes

baroness lister of burtersett: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the statement by Baroness Buscombe on 23 July (HL Deb, cols 680–691),what plans they have to ensure thatParliament will debate the report of the evaluation of the pilot to move existing welfare claimants to Universal Credit before regulations are laid concerning the full roll-out of managed migration; and how long that pilot is scheduled to last.

baroness stedman-scott: We have already said that following the pilot we will report back to Parliament on progress and findings, and at that point will determine the process for bringing forward further legislation to move claimants beyond the pilot phase. The Universal Credit (Managed Migration Pilot and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2019 introduced in July 2019 allow the Department to pilot moving no more than 10,000 claimants across to Universal Credit from legacy benefits and is expected to last until November 2020.Draft regulations were sent for scrutiny to the independent Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC) in 2018. The Committee submitted them for a formal public consultation, receiving 455 responses - the Government accepted, in whole or in part, all but one of the Committee’s recommendations.The revised regulations mean claimants, who are potentially eligible for Severe Disability Premium (SDP) transitional payments, can now start receiving payment. As the recently published statistics show we have paid over 6,300 claims worth over £16 million. Eligible claimants may receive up to an additional £405 per month on top of their existing Universal Credit award, depending on their specific circumstances. The Department estimates that by 2024-25, approximately 45,000 of the most vulnerable claimants will benefit from this package of support for those former SDP recipients, worth an estimated £600 million over the next six years.